The "Supahboru Ekusupuresu"

Just want to share and forgive me for posting it very late. Last summer, my tekido no hito＊ invited me to come to his place. He told me that we will go somewhere together with his family. I thought we are going to dine in a fine restaurant (c0z' it's always like that everytime he calls) but it's not what I thought it was. He told me that we will attend Natsu＊ Festival in Uchida Chou. Unlike any other festivals, Natsu Festival is held in one area. No parades and the likes. No liquors and any other alcoholic beverages. Just a simple festival for kids with candies, balloons and games. I was surprised when he told me we are going to sell supahboru to kids.

Small stage for a mini- show.

Father and son.

Itteirashai!...Ikutsu?...Ganbate ne!...Arigatou!...(Welcome!...How many?...Good luck!...Thank you!...) were my few words while selling. We have a lot of customers that time 'coz we only offered a very cheap price. I was the only foreigner in the group. People were amazed seeing me selling and interacting with them. Funny because one Japanese mother couldn't help but asked me to have a picture together with her children ( now I know how it feels like to be a celebrity haha joke!).

Asking Miwa san about the game policy.

Su-pah-bo-ru E-ku-su-pu-re-su . It's not some sort of "abra kadabra" spell nor a kind of Japanese food. It's simply superball express (yeah right). It's just the way how they say it. They don't even have a local term for that. Superball game is very popular to Japanese children. It is a high-bouncing rubber ball submerged in water where children have to get certain number of balls in exchange for a bigger one. That time, the policy was 25 catches ＝ 1 two-inch superball. 45 catches＝2 two-inch superballs and so on... They have to use a catcher made of Japanese paper .They have to do the catching carefully so as to prevent the paper from tearing. Once torn, the player is no longer allowed to continue the game.

The superball on katami (Japanese carpet)

It's almost 8 pm when we finished the activity. I was so happy and fulfilled eventhough I was so exhausted. My boss told me that all the proceeds will go to his favorite charitable institution. They do the fundraising venture once a year. I am very proud that I was once part of it.



＊Tekido no hito- a moderator. Every AOTS Japan scholar requires a tekido no hito during the specialization of his/her training.

＊Natsu- summer.